The Energy Pyramid
as a Guiding
Principal in the
Move to Net Zero
Michael Barancewicz
John Lord
[email protected]
Acknowledgement
Dennis Buffington P.E., Ph.D.
Professor emeritus of agricultural and biological engineering
Email: [email protected]
Work Phone: 814-865-2971
Partnerships
Buildings Classified as NZEB:A
• NZEB:A buildings generate and use energy through a combination of
energy efficiency and RE collected within the building footprint.
Buildings Classified as NZEB:B
• NZEB:B buildings generate and use energy through a combination of
energy efficiency, RE generated within the footprint, and RE generated
within the site.
Buildings Classified as NZEB:C
• NZEB:C buildings use the RE strategies as described for NZEB:A and/or
NZEB:B buildings to the maximum extent feasible. These buildings also
use Option 3, off-site renewable resources that are brought on site to
produce energy.
Buildings Classified as NZEB:D
• NZEB:D buildings use the energy strategies as described for NZEB:A,
NZEB:B, and/or NZEB:C buildings. On-site renewable strategies are used
to the maximum extent feasible. These buildings also use Option 4,
purchasing certified off-site RE such as utility-scale wind and RECs from
certified sources.
Executive Order 13514 is an executive order titled Federal
Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
that U.S. President Barack Obama issued on October 5, 2009.[1][2]
This executive order mandates that at least 15 percent of existing federal buildings and
leases meet Energy Efficiency Guiding Principles by 2015, and that annual progress be
made toward 100 percent conformance of all federal buildings, with a goal of 100% of all
new federal buildings achieving zero-net-energy by 2030. The U.S. government is the
largest consumer of energy in America. It has roughly 500,000 buildings, and most of these
buildings are energy-inefficient. Fifteen percent of 500,000 buildings is 75,000 buildings.
"Zero-net-energy building" is defined in Executive Order 13514 as "a building that is
designed, constructed, and operated to require a greatly reduced quantity of energy to
operate, meet the balance of energy needs from sources of energy that do not produce
greenhouse gases, and therefore result in no net emissions of greenhouse gases and be
economically viable".
US DOE – EERE Zero Energy Resources Buildings Data Base
Energy Conservation
Picture Credit: 101st Airborne Division, Ft. Campbell, KY
Conservation is the act of
using less energy on an overall
basis. Conservation is about
people and how they interact
with energy consumption
points. Conservation is based
largely on behavioral practices
to use the least amount of
energy needed to do whatever
needs to be done. Turning the
lights off when you leave the
room and recycling aluminum
cans are both ways of
conserving energy.
Energy Efficiency
Picture Credit: The Center for Market Transformation
Efficiency is the ability to do the same job as something else, but
using less energy. Efficiency is about wise purchases of products,
equipment, technology, retro-fits, and so on. Purchasing and
installing equipment and processes with high energy efficiency is
a practice that may allow a job to be done with less energy
consumption.
Energy Demand
Shifting the timing of energy
usage to periods with less
demand on the energy
distribution system is the goal of
energy demand activities.
There are basically two methods
to assure ensure that demand
needs are met. The first is to
increase generation capacity. The
second is to manage the load in
such a way that available energy
generation capacity is utilized
without creating periods of
demand that exceed the existing
generation capacity.
Renewable Energy
This is the peak of the
pyramid, and thus is the last
part of the pyramid to be built.
On site renewable energy
generation capacity
technologies should be
installed only after measures
for energy conservation,
energy efficiency and demand
management have been fully
implemented.
Renewable Electricity Futures Study
• Renewable electricity
generation from
technologies that are
commercially available
today, in combination with a
more flexible electric
system, is more than
adequate to supply 80% of
total U.S. electricity
generation in 2050 while
meeting electricity demand
on an hourly basis in every
region of the country.
Case Studies
Four case studies are presented to
illustrate that building-equipment
retrofitting is a viable and necessary tool
for increasing the energy efficiency of
buildings. Each case study presents an
equipment retrofit project electricity
savings with its payback periods, and
compares with equivalent electricity
capacity and economics PV systems in
Honolulu, Hawaii.
The case studies show that energy
savings from retrofit projects ranged
from 28% to 61% for individual
equipment retrofits. These results
indicate that equipment retrofitting
with energy-efficient alternatives is
about 50% or more cost-effective than
installing PV systems. This is so, even
when large renewable energy tax
incentives provided by the Federal and
State Governments are taken into
account.
The Energy Pyramid
as a Guiding
Principal in the
Move to Net Zero
Michael Barancewicz
John Lord
[email protected]